Pearl's Student
by Karl Kadaver
Summary: A quick one-shot about a recently uncovered Gem named Tanzanite, and her story of acceptance.
One Month Ago:

"Garnet, do you know what…who this is?" Pearl asked breathlessly. She currently had, cupped in her hands, a small, purple, tear-shaped gemstone that Steven and Amethyst has found while combing the beach for coins and oddly-colored shells.

Garnet adjusted her shades. "It's Tanzanite," she stated.

A smile crossed Pearl's face. Garnet had just confirmed what she already believed. "I can't believe it!" She flipped the stone around in her hands, inspecting it for cracks and brushing off some sand here and there.

Steven raised his hand. "Who's Tanzanite?"

Amethyst high-fived Steven's raised hand. "She's a Crystal Gem! A rebel, like us!"

Steven gasped as stars appeared in his eyes, "Awesome…"

Amethyst put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, she was somethin'…from what I heard."

"You didn't know her?" Steven asked.

Pearl explained, as she held Tanzanite's stone, gently touching it with her thumb. "She was a young gem, barely 1000 years old. But she wanted so badly to fight by our side… Rose just couldn't say no…" She let a small smile form on her lips as she continued, "She fought in the first great battle of the Gem war…"

Garnet finished, "And she died in that same battle."

Pearl sighed. "Yes…yes she did. But she fought valiantly." Her expression became hopeful as she mused aloud, "If she's okay, we could certainly use her by our side again." Her fist tightened around the stone as she proclaimed, eyes shining, "I could train her!"

Garnet adjusted her shades again. "We need all the help we can get," she stated.

Amethyst chirped, "Well, why don't you let her go, Pearl, and see what happens!"

* * *

Today:

Today was going to be the day. Almost 6000 years had passed since Tanzanite had spent any significant amount of time among any Gems, but now, here it was! The Gem war was over, Tanzanite was finally discovered and reformed, and she was training with _THE_ Pearl! Rose Quartz's Right Hand, her most trusted confidant, her knight... Tanzanite sighed wistfully to herself as she made her way to the warp pad which would take her to the arena where for the last two weeks, she had been training with Pearl in the way of the sword. Pearl, of course, was already there. [i] _Why shouldn't she be[/i]_ , Tanzanite mused as she played a little bit with her hair. _She's always prepared for anything._ It had been no secret that Tanzanite looked up to Pearl, besides in the literal sense (she was a great deal shorter than her teacher). They had similar fighting styles, with their both using swords, and favoring strategy and finesse over raw brute strength, as it was with Garnet and Amethyst.

She stepped onto the warp pad and within moments, she was standing at the top of a great stairway overlooking the arena. Pearl was standing in the center, patiently awaiting Tanzanite's arrival. She was facing the other way, so she never noticed how, especially on this day, Tanzanite's cheeks flushed at the sight of her teacher...her _senpai._ That was the term used by a character on one of Steven's movies, and Tanzanite thought the term described their relationship perfectly. She stood at the top of the stair, simply staring at her mentor. Her physique, her poise... Her grace, beauty, finesse, everything about her was perfect. Tanzanite positively tingled at the thought of them fusing. Could they even fuse? She was sure they could.

Maybe they would today...

Catching herself, Tanzanite cleared her throat and announced her presence to her senpai. "I'm here, Miss!" she chirped as she bounded down the stairs. Pearl turned and faced her student. She was not quite as exuberant as her charge, she was always focused on the here and now. With the patience and calm civility of a mother scolding a very young child, Pearl stated, "You're late. Let's get started."

As Tanzanite produced her weapon, a khopesh, she said not a word. Her actions would speak for her. _After practice. That is when I will tell her. Let's make every action, every movement, count!_

* * *

"Well done, Tanzanite! You're improving by leaps and bounds," Pearl exclaimed proudly. No less than seven Holo-Pearls lay shattered at Tanzanite's feet.

Tanzanite herself was panting heavily. She hadn't expected such a hard fight this time around. A broad smile spread across the student's face as she wiped her brow. "I'm ready for more, Miss! If you want!"

Pearl dispelled the holograms and rubbed her hands together, taking in the scene, likely reliving her glory days at Rose's side. "No, I think this will be enough for today." She raised her finger and smiled as she stated, "But maybe you can take on ten tomorrow!"

Tanzanite dropped to her knees immediately, secretly relieved that the fight was over. Part of her wasn't sure she had anything left in her. But just then, Pearl approached and held out her hand. As Tanzanite looked up at her, Pearl asked, "Need help?"

Tanzanite gratefully took her hand and stood before her mentor. Then, for a long while, she simply stood there, smiling. Pearl seemed a bit nervous as she asked, "Is there...is there something I can do for you?"

 _It's now or never, Tanzanite!_ And just like that, she blurted out, "I can't keep it in any longer! Pearl, I love you!" She stepped forward to hug her mentor, but she was quickly rebuffed with a shove from Pearl. The mentor then turned away, wrapping her arms around herself with a look of worry on her face.

"Tanzanite," Pearl's voice was low. "You know... I mean...I _like_ you, and you're an excellent student, but... Rose..." She cast her eyes downward.

Tanzanite was infuriated. She had barely known Rose Quartz, and even more, she had no idea about the bond that Rose and Pearl had once shared. She stood up with a huff. "Rose! That's all you ever talk about! How great she was! How much she loved the creatures of this world! If she's so great, then where is she now?!"

Pearl whipped around, a look of absolute scorn written on her face. "Don't you DARE talk about Rose that way! You didn't know her!"

Tanzanite replied in kind, "No, I didn't! But I know you!"

"Then show some respect! Rose is the reason you're here!" Pearl shot back. Tanzanite flinched. Pearl continued, her tone becoming ever sharper. "Rose let you join the rebellion because she saw something in you that I didn't! She had faith in you!"

"And you didn't?!" Tanzanite replied indignantly.

"NO!" Pearl swiped with her arm, tears streaming down her face. "I _NEVER_ had faith in you! You were too young, too inexperienced!" At this point, she shouted, "I thought you should've stayed home!" Her voice suddenly became softer as she concluded, "I told Rose as much."

Tanzanite was shaking. Her mentor hadn't had faith in her? How could this be? Tears streamed down her face as well, as she dipped her head as she muttered, "Then maybe I should..."

Pearl, having regained her composure, straightened up and quietly declared, "Training is concluded for today. Indefinitely."

"Good," was Tanzanite's only reply as she sulkily strode up the stairs to the warp pad. In a few seconds, she was gone, teleported away.

Pearl stood in the center of the arena, glaring toward where her student once was. She even wondered briefly if she had overreacted.

* * *

After a few minutes, Pearl materialized onto the warp pad in Steven's room. She glanced around and found Steven and Amethyst playing a board game. Garnet was nowhere to be seen; she was likely on a mission.

"Has anyone seen Tanzanite?" she asked at last.

"Nope," Amethyst responded, not even bothering to look up from her game. Steven likewise replied, "We thought she was with you."

Peculiar. Pearl thought for sure that Tanzanite would be sulking somewhere in the temple. She didn't have her own room, so she would often use Steven's loft when he wasn't using it himself, usually to read books. Pearl stepped off the pad and looked around again. It wasn't like Tanzanite to leave the temple without telling anyone. She asked again, "Are you sure she isn't here?" She scratched the back of her head as she sheepishly admitted, "She was pretty upset when we concluded training…"

"What happened?" Steven asked. Although they had limited interaction thus far, any friend of the Gems was a friend of his. But let's be honest, he probably would've asked regardless.

Pearl glanced away and replied, "We had…a disagreement."

Amethyst chimed in bluntly, "You yelled at her."

Pearl quickly retorted, "Amethyst, I…" Then she paused for a moment and admitted, "I did."

 _"_ _I thought you should've stayed home!"_

 _"_ _Then maybe I should…"_

"Home…" Pearl mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. Then, all at once, realization clicked. "The Galaxy Warp!" Before Amethyst and Steven could ask what she was talking about, Pearl was already on the warp pad and teleporting to the location of the destroyed Galaxy Warp.

When she appeared once more, she found Tanzanite on her knees punching the warp pad designated for Homeword. Or more accurately, the pieces of the warp pad. The younger gem was sobbing and crying out, "Work! Work you stupid thing! Why won't you work?!" Each sentence was punctuated with another punch of the ground. Then, she reared her head back and shouted skyward, "I wanna go home!" Then, she collapsed and assumed a fetal position on the warp pad, sobbing softly.

Pearl pitied the girl as she lay there, shaking, sobbing, and probably feeling completely alone on this world that she knew next to nothing about… She took a couple steps toward her just as Amethyst, Steven, and now Garnet appeared on the warp pad behind her. Pearl quickly turned around and stopped them from coming any further by holding her hand out toward them. She glanced downward and away from them as she softly told them, "I have to fix this. She's my responsibility." Garnet nodded as Pearl turned and walked toward Tanzanite, who was still curled up.

"Tanzanite," Pearl gently called. "It's me." She was almost there.

Tanzanite shuffled and positioned her body in such a way that her back was facing her old mentor, burying her head deeper into her arms.

When Pearl was close enough, she knelt next to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Tanzanite shuddered, but didn't resist. After a pause, she told her, "You won't be able to fix it."

From within the curled up body that was Tanzanite, the girl muttered, "Are you surprised?" After this, she raised her head and sat up, seiza style, pulling her shoulder away from Pearl's hand. She spat, "Or was it that you didn't have any faith in me?"

Pearl withdrew, hugging her knees. She looked forward as she responded, "We made certain that no one would be able to use the warp again. Ever." She looked toward Tanzanite and forced a smile. "It's for our own good." She maintained that weak smile although Tanzanite made no effort to even glance at her. After a while, she turned her head forward again and lightly coughed. "I was right, you know," she stated matter-of-factly.

This time, Tanzanite did respond. Her voice was soft, but flat. "About what?"

 _"_ _You were_ young. You _were_ inexperienced. I had every right to tell Rose to send you home."

Tanzanite shot a glare at her, but didn't say anything. Pearl continued,

"In a way…I'm glad you were defeated so early in the war."

Tanzanite again didn't respond. Her expression said as much as was needed; she was skeptical, but wanted to see where this line of reasoning was going.

Pearl sighed and let her chin rest on her knees. "I hate to say that. I'm never _glad when_ anyone is destroyed…but it…it spared you the horrors of what happened later on. The chaos, the destruction, the…" she shuddered, "Abominations that were created…"

Tanzanite slumped her shoulders and relaxed, letting her head droop down. "You…you wanted to protect me…" she said softly.

Pearl straightened up, happy to finally get a response. She smiled as she proclaimed, "Yes!" But she quickly reined in her enthusiasm. "Yes." She reached over and once again placed her hand on Tanzanite's shoulder. This time, her student did not object. "Rose saw something in you that I didn't…couldn't see at the time." Her eyes became misty as memories of her Love surfaced. "I wonder if she saw the same thing in me…that I'm beginning to see in you: Desire. The desire to live for a cause, _for someone._ I meant what I said before: That I _do_ like you, and that you _are_ an excellent student."

"Miss…"

Pearl looked down at her student. She was sure of it now. They were more similar than either of them knew. "What is it?"

Tanzanite leaned over and into her mentor. "I don't want to go home. I want to stay here. And..." She looked up at her with tears welling up in her eyes. "I want to protect this planet, and Steven, and…I want to make you proud of me."

At this, Pearl leaned over and wrapped her arms around her friend. "I _am_ proud of you."

 _…_ _And you are home…_

End


End file.
